Dismal Angel Episode 3: Betrayal
by AngelExposed
Summary: Gambit appears at the mansion hurt and claiming to have switched sides, without giving any reason why. Rogue feels something sinister is going on with Gambit, and feels betrayed when the others want to help him (Sequel to
1. Chapter 1: Dreams

Chapter 1: Dreams

            She was sitting on a blanket with her feet buried in the sand, the ocean gently lapping at the shore.  She watched the love of her life standing near the waters edge, looking out at the endless ocean, he was nothing more than a silhouette, watching the water shimmer from the light of the moon in the sky.

            She felt her heart swell with the emotions that always followed whenever she looked at him, sometimes it overwhelmed her so much she felt as if her heart would explode.  

            Smiling to herself, she pulled herself up and walked over, padding along the sand barefooted, she crept up behind him and wrapped her arms around him, she felt him at first tense up, not expecting her sudden grasp for him, and then he relaxed, she pressed her cheek against his bare back.

            "What you thinking about?" she asked him softly.

            "Wondering why you won't join him," her love replied, he gave a sigh, and turned towards her, her arms still looped around him, "you know if you join him, he'll help you in ways that you never knew possible…"

            "You know I can't," she sighed, she rested her head on his shoulder, she felt him running his fingers softly down the exposed area of her back that her bikini left.  "As much as I want to be with you, I have so many responsibilities her…I have two years until I graduate, I'm captain of the cheerleading squad, and everything is so good here, I love my life here…"

            "You know that if you don't join him then we can't be together," he sighed, he moved away and stepped into the water.

            "Why can't you just stay here?"

            "You know, I can't, I'm obligated, I'm on a mission…" he stated.

            "I just don't understand why he wants me…"

            "Who wouldn't want you?" he smiled in a charming way.

            She walked over and wrapped her arms around him, "I…I don't know, I just…I don't know if I can leave my family and friends to go off on some crazy mission…"

            "Please join him, so that me and you can be together…"

            "I…" she paused, "Alright…I…I will…" she smiled a little, and leaned up and pecked his lips softly, she ran her hands from his shoulders down his arms to his wrists, he flinched away.

            "Ow…"

            "What?"

            "Your ring just cut me," he laughed a little.

            "I'm sorry…" she looked at the top of his wrist, a long thick cut had manifested itself having been caught from the sharp end of a ring she wore.  She pulled a black satin ribbon from out of her hair and wrapped it around the cut, "there, that will stop the bleeding."

            He smiled softly, "I love you…"

            "I love you too," she whispered, and they kissed softly, the water splashing around their feet softly, and the moon shining down on them.

            Rogue stirred from her slumber, it was an early Saturday morning, and the sun was shining through the windows of the room she shared with Kitty Pryde.  Sitting up she stroked her hair back from her face and glanced out of the windows, everything outside lush and green, the air felt warm and promising.

She remembered the dream so vividly.  The boy she remembered so vaguely.  She felt as if she'd seen him before, yet, couldn't place him, not at the moment anyway, in the dream everything had been so dark it had been hard to recognise him.

            She sighed, that kiss had been so real, she'd relived that dream several times now, it seemed to have spawned from a memory that she'd seen in her head coming from the other resident presence in her psyche – Miss Marvel.    Yet she was unsure if the dream was actually a memory, or if it were a dream fuelled by the seed of the memory of something she wanted more than life itself – that kiss.  

            Yet, it did not make sense if all she wanted was the kiss, why were the other elements in the dream – the talk of a mission, the cut on the wrist, the black ribbon.  It did not make sense to her and she did not understand what it had been about.

            Kitty wandered into the room, her long brown hair up in a towel, and wearing a white robe, her skin bright pink obviously from a hot shower.  "Morning," she said brightly.

            Rogue nodded and uttered a "morning," in a low voice, she stretched, "what time is it?"

            "Nine thirty," Kitty responded, she wandered over to the vanity and picked up a large jar of moisturising face pack and began spreading it all over her face and neck in dollops.  "You look like you slept well," she looked in the mirror, seeing the reflection of Rogue from across the room.

            "I had that dream again," Rogue lay back down, rubbing her eyes a little to get the sleep crusts out.

            "Really?" Kitty asked, "the one where you get kissed?"

            "Where Carol Danvers gets kissed, lucky bitch," Rogue responded, she pulled herself up and headed towards the window and looked outside to let Kitty change from her Rogue into something else, "the dream seemed more vivid this time, Kitty," she responded.

            "It did?" Kitty yanked off the robe and quickly changed into a pair of pink lace underwear and a pink tanktop with a lace trim at the chest.  She turned towards Rogue and waited for a reply. 

            Rogue folded her arms casually, looking out to the Mansions gardens, "I don't know, he was talking about a mission or something this time, I don't remember that from the previous dreams," she turned to look towards Kitty and seeing her face a pale green colour – almost seeming to crack already really, she smirked slightly, and tried to keep a straight face.

            "Anything else?" 

            "Yeah," Rogue said, "a ring on her finger scratched the top of his wrist and she put a ribbon around the cut," she put her arm absently behind her on the window sill where she'd left her digital camera.

            "Hmmm…that sounds like it means something," Kitty stated, "I have a book of dreams somewhere, it tells you how to interpret dreams and stuff," she stood up.

            Rogue grabbed the camera behind her and moved the lens cap off quietly, "Do you think it could be a real memory?"

            "I don't know," Kitty looked at her.

            Rogue got a hold of the camera, yanked it from behind herself and aimed for Kitty and pressed the button.

            "HEY!" Kitty gaped.   

            Rogue smirked.

            "You better delete that!" Kitty remarked.

            "Make me," Rogue stepped backwards a little.

            "Okay, I will," Kitty rushed towards Rogue.

            Rogue's reflexes were quicker than Kitty's, with the camera firmly in one hand, Rogue quickly unlocked the window latch, pushed the windows open and jumped out of the window from the third floor, instead of falling like most people would, she soared into the air gracefully.

            "Grrrrr," Kitty frowned, she placed her hands onto the windowsill.  

            "C'mon then, Miss Pryde, make me delete the photo," Rogue egged on, she looked at the digital screen on the back of the camera showing the picture of Kitty with her white moisturised face and towel on her head.  She laughed.

            "I will!" Kitty phased through the wall under the windowsill and began walking through the air, to chase Rogue.  Rogue's laughter rang through the morning air, a bubbly trill echoing in the sky.

            "Dude…I just saw Kitty and Rogue flying by the window…" Evan stated.   He and Kurt were in the room they shared, Evan was just getting dressed and Kurt wasn't even out of bed yet.

            "Go check," Kurt suggested, he rolled over to go back to sleep.

Evan walked over to the window and opened it and leaned out, "yup, I was right, they are flying…uhm…Kitty practically has zero clothes on…" Evan gasped.

            "Are you serious?" Kurt got out of bed and walked over to another nearby window and opened it and leaned out, "Kitty…is like…walking on air, in her pink underwear," he laughed, "what are they doing?"

            "I don't know, Rogue has something in her hand…" Evan squinted to try and see, "Kitty can't catch up to her…"

            "Incoming!!!!!!!!!!!" they both heard Rogue shriek.  Evan jumped out of the way just in time to avoid Rogue as she dived through the open window and landed with a hard thud on the carpet halfway across the room, holding a digital camera in her hand.

            "Rogue, what ARE you doing…" Evan asked, he noted Rogue was wearing her pyjama's still.

            "Nice boxers," Rogue laughed at Evan, pointing at his Tazmanian Devil Boxer shorts.

            "Hey!" Evan pulled on his pants quickly.

            "What have you got there?" Kurt took the camera from Rogue carefully without touching her bare fingers, and he turned it on to view the picture, "Oh…my…god!" he burst out laughing.  "Evan, you gotta see this…" Kurt urged Evan over.

            "Hand OVER the camera right NOW!" Kitty phased through the wall and made a mad dash for Kurt who was holding the camera.

            "Uhm…not till I back this up and have a hundred copies printed," Kurt stated, and with that, he teleported himself out of sight.

            "Damn it," Kitty stomped her foot.  "Rogue, you're so dead for that…"

            "Kitty, you're like…standing in the boy's bedroom in your underwear…" Rogue pointed out.

            "Oh my god!" Kitty realised this, and she rushed through the wall leading into the hallway to head up to the third floor to get dressed.  The door opened two moments later, and Logan sauntered in, "I just saw Kitty in her underwear running through the hallway screaming…" 

            Rogue burst out laughing, "don't ask," was all she could say and she headed out the window to go back up to her room on the third floor.

            Evan looked at Logan once Rogue was gone, "I haven't heard Rogue laugh like that in ages."

            "It's good to see her happy for once…" Logan said.  "Thing is, when happy times are present, usually miserable times come to follow," he stated, "By the way, in future, I don't ever want to see girls in their underwear or pyjamas in your room again, okay?" he smirked, and left the room.


	2. Chapter 2: Pining

Chapter 2: Pining

            The day had been uneventful, apart from the antics from earlier that morning, and by seven in the evening, the Mansion had calmed down considerably, the sun had begun to set casting a soft orange light over everything.

Rogue stood by the windows of the recreation room with the blinds open and the slats pulled slightly open, orange light spilling into the room and onto her as she stood peering out, watching as Jean and Cyclops left to go on a date.  She watched Scott open the car door for Jean, and the close it for her once she was in.  Rogue felt her heart sink a little.

There wasn't a day that went by that she somehow didn't wish that things would change and Scott's affections would turn towards her.  Her feelings towards him were so strong that the longing in her seemed to be sated.  However, every time she witnessed him and Jean together, her heart became terribly empty, and felt as if may break.

            "Rogue?" Kitty's voice broke through Rogue's thoughts.  Rogue looked over her shoulder at Kitty.

            "Yeah?" she asked, her voice cracking with emotion.

            "Evan and Kurt are out renting some DVDs and getting snacks and stuff, we're gonna sit in and watch movies tonight – you wanna watch with us?" Kitty asked.

            Rogue pondered just going off on her own to sulk, but she'd grown weary of it, she'd felt so much happier since she'd begun to open up more to the X-men, since she'd begun to participate more with them.  "I uhm…sure…" she closed the blinds at the window and walked over.

            "Are you pining after Scott or something," Kitty asked, looking at Rogue curiously.

            "What?" Rogue asked, she pretended to be dismayed, "are you crazy…"

            "Oh…I guess so, I…" Kitty laughed, "I dunno, I've seen that look before…" Kitty shrugged, "You'd tell me if you were though, right?"

            "Duh," Rogue lied, she gritted her teeth, "what do you think I'd want with that boring fuddy-duddy?"

            "I dunno," Kitty walked over to the window and pulled the slats of the blind open a little and peered out, "he's kinda cute, I'll admit it, and he's kind, and smart – and brave," Kitty stated, "But it's more fun sometimes to like the bad boy," she looked over her shoulder at Rogue.

            "Is that what you liked about Lance?" Rogue asked casually.

            "Kinda, I dunno, it was dangerous and exciting, and it seemed sometimes that even if he was on the 'other side', that it'd work out.  I guess I was wrong.  But it was nice while it lasted…" Kitty gave shrug.

            "Are you into anyone, right now?" Rogue asked curiously.

            "Sure, but he's not available," Kitty stated, "and I'm not gonna tell him I like him – it wouldn't be fair to put him in that position…"

            "He's one of us?" Rogue asked.

            "Sometimes its hard fighting along side someone and living with them day by day and trying to not tell them how you feel…" Kitty sighed, "but it wouldn't be fair on him and his girlfriend…and besides, its my own fault, I didn't see what was there when I had the chance…"

            "Are you talking about K—" Rogue was about to say Kurt's name but when Kurt and Evan walked in at that moment, she shut up instantly.

Both boys wandered in holding various bags of chips, popcorn, dips, and sodas, plus three rental DVDs.  Rogue glanced over to Kitty who's face was beginning to go scarlet, Rogue knew the answer without having to ask again. 

            "Okay, so what are we watching?" Rogue asked, she walked over and leaned on the back of the couch casually.

            "Uhm…I can't remember, here," Evan tossed the bag of DVDs to Rogue.  

            Rogue opened the bag and pulled out the DVDs, "Lets see…'8 Mile'…Eminem sucks, guys?"

            "Look, I heard it was good, 8 out of 9 Grandmas liked it…" Evan advised.

            "What?" Rogue looked at Evan.  

            "Well this guy on TV sent 9 grandmas to watch '8 Mile' and 8 out of them liked it," Evan shrugged.

            Rogue looked at the other two DVDs, "what else, hmmm 'Die Another Day', what IS it with boys and James Bond movies?" Rogue glanced over to Kitty.

            "God I asked myself that question every other day when the hype started up about the new James Bond movie," Kitty rolled her eyes, "I mean, you see one, you see them all, right?  He does spy work, he has his way with some big boobed babe, he shoots a gun, escapes somehow from an impossible situation, and saves the day…" Kitty shrugged.

            "Kitty!  Don't give the plot away!" Kurt gaped at her.

            "Sorry…" Kitty rolled her eyes and smirked to Rogue.  "What's the other movie?"

            "Uhm…lets see here…'The Ring'," Rogue's eyes widened, "Ooooh, I wanna see this, I want this one on…"

            "Me and Evan voted for 'Die Another Day'," Kurt looked at her.

            "Me and Kitty don't like James Bond…" Rogue folded her arms.

            Kurt was about to come up with a reply to that when suddenly a loud screeching sound pierced all their ears, they put their hands to their heads.  "What the—"

            "The alarms…" Kitty gaped, "Kurt, get us to the war room…"

            "Everyone, grab onto me," Kurt instructed, and reached out his arms to let them hold on, as soon as everyone had a hold, he teleported to the war room, where the alarms were also still going off, Hank and Logan were checking the security cameras of the grounds to find out where the break in was located.

            "What's going on?" Kitty asked loudly.

            "Someone is on the grounds that's for sure," Logan switched camera angles on a large monitor, "trying to find the creep…"

            "Where's the Professor?" Evan asked.

            "At a teaching seminar in California, he'll be back in three days," Hank replied, they had all forgotten about that.   Since they had all been expelled for School Professor Xavier and Hank had decided they would do the teaching.  Professor Xavier had not taught any class for years, and had gone to a seminar on new teaching methods.  

            "Turn the alarms off!" Kitty shouted at Hank.

            Hank logged onto the Mansion alarm systems, "what's the password?" he asked.

            "You mean you don't know it?" Kurt asked.

            "The passwords change every day," Logan stated.

            Kurt walked over to the computer, "do you have the alarm systems report from this morning?"

            "Yeah, right here," Logan handed him a folder.

            Kurt sifted through pieces of paper, "the alarm is in the report, it's like the first letter of the first word on each piece of paper followed the date number, lets see…try this…AWBPOP052203," Kurt read out.

            Hank typed the password into the computer as Kurt read it out.

            "Its accepted, it's asking for a command to deactivate the alarms…?" Hank asked. 

            "Hit Alt, Control, Enter and Hash at the same time," Logan stated.

            "Sorry, I'm still not used to the alarm system, yet," Hank typed the key command in.

            The alarms stopped immediately, much to their relief.    

            "Any sign of the intruder?" Kurt asked.

            "Got him…" Logan replied, he found a camera angle showing a humanoid male lying face down in the grass.

            "Who's that?" Kitty asked, her voice full of perplexity.

            "We're about to find out, kids," Logan stated, "c'mon.  But be on your guard…"           

            Kurt teleported them to the area of the grounds where the person had been seen lying face down in the grass.  Rogue moved over slowly, she felt her heart pounding, something told her that she knew this man.  

            "Rogue, stay back…" Logan commanded, he walked over slowly and turned the man over, revealing a very familiar mutant to the X-Men.  He lay limp, unconscious, he'd been badly beaten, and there was blood spattered on his face.

            Rogue put her hand to her mouth, it was Gambit.  Gambit, the mutant who had attacked her that night on the very grounds he lay now, the night she'd absorbed Carol Danvers powers and Psyche.  She felt a strange nausea begin to come over her, and fought the want to be sick.

            "It's Gambit…" Kurt gasped.

            "He's one of the Acolytes…what's he doing lying here looking like he's at death's door…" Kitty asked in confusion.

            Hank knelt by him and pushed open the black leather trenchcoat Gambit was wearing, on a black T-shirt, he could see a sticky looking stain, and a hole, "he's been stabbed…we need to get him to the hospital wing right away."

            "We're going to save him?" Rogue looked at Hank, "He tried to abduct me the last time he was here!"

            "Just because he tried to abduct you does not mean he deserves to die, Rogue," Hank remarked.

            "What if it's some kind of trick or something?" Kurt asked.

            "Hank is right," Logan stated, "he might be the enemy but he doesn't deserve to die..." 

            Hank picked Gambit up and began to carry him towards the mansion, Logan and Evan followed.

            Kitty, Kurt and Rogue looked at each other.

            "This can't be good," Kurt stated.

            Rogue felt a slight headache beginning to come on, "I don't believe this…" she sighed.  

            "I know it sucks, but Hank and Logan are right, he might be an asshole but he doesn't deserve to die…" Kitty sighed, "if we left him to die we'd be no less than murderers."

            "We didn't stab him," Rogue pointed out.

            "Rogue, she has a point…" Kurt stated, "lets go back to the Mansion and watch the movies, there's not much else we can do in the meantime."

            Rogue looked at the grass where Gambit had been lying, "what else could go wrong?" she asked herself and headed back to the Mansion.


	3. Chapter 3: Confrontation

Chapter 3: Confrontation

            Rogue couldn't sleep, every time she tried to she couldn't help that creeping feeling inside of her that Gambit had somehow faked his injuries and was really lying downstairs in the hospital wing pretending to be unconscious.  She kept imagining he was still intent on taking her back to Magneto.  She just couldn't trust Gambit, period.  Despite being wounded she knew he'd still somehow be quite capable of taking her out.  

            Even with her new powers, she knew Gambit, with his speed, precision and skill would be a formidable opponent.  She remembered the last battle she'd had with him.  It had scorned her.

            She sighed and got up from her bed and wandered over to the window, and pulled the drapes back wearily and gazed out at the mansion grounds, swathed in the shadows of night time.   It was raining, and she could hear the soft patting sounds of the rain hitting the windows.  

            I know he's down there, creeping around…I know it, she thought to herself worriedly.  Her common sense tried to tell her that she was being paranoid, but something in her, instinct perhaps, told her otherwise.  Rogue decided she had to check, just to be sure.

She closed the drapes again and walked quietly across the room and opened the door.  The hallway lights were still on and light spilled in, casting a soft glow upon sleeping Kitty Pryde's face.  Rogue avoided waking her up, she crept out of the room and closed the door silently behind her.

            She headed downstairs, into the grand hall, all the lights were off down there, and everything was still and silent – save the ticking of the Grandfather clock against the wall.  She headed down another hallway towards the kitchen, she heard a noise coming from the kitchen, it sounded like a door being closed, she felt her heart jump and she gasped, she could hear someone creeping around.

            "I knew it," she whispered to herself, she reached for something, finding an umbrella stand in the hall she found an umbrella and held it above her head.  She slowly tiptoed with her back against the walls, hiding in the shadows and the dark, she reached the large open threshold leading into the kitchen, and she quietly crept in.  The lights were off but she could still hear "Don't move!" she yelled.

            She heard a gasp and something land on the floor with a soft thud and the sound of liquid spilling, she reached for the light switch and turned it on, her instincts had been right, it was Gambit.  

            "Hands in the air, now…!" Rogue pointed the umbrella at him.

            He was standing topless, in a pair of plain cotton pyjama bottoms that she recognised as belonging to Scot.  He had a bandage  over his upper chest and crossed over one shoulder.  "That ain't no gun you be toting, chere," he looked at the umbrella and smirked a little.

            She looked at the umbrella and then back to him, "Never mind what I'm toting, what are you doin' sneakin' around?!" she demanded, she kept the umbrella pointed at him, ready to strike if he should lash out at her any moment.

            He held up his hands in surrender, "Okay, you caught me, I'm a criminal," he smiled a little, and laughed under his breath, "I'm guilty of drinking orange juice straight from the carton…" Gambit gave a smirk, he pointed to the floor, he was standing in a puddle of orange juice, the carton laying on the floor.

            "You spilled it everywhere!" she gasped, she tossed the umbrella away realising it wouldn't be much of a weapon against him – he could easily grab it and charge it up with kinetic energy anyway.

            "I didn't expect someone to come flying out of nowhere wielding an umbrella," Gambit remarked, he looked at her.  "Usually I'm a little harder to startle, but you caught me off guard.  Not many women be able to do that you know."

Rogue frowned, why was this guy so infuriating?

"Got a mop?  This puddle here could cause some serious damage if someone slipped in it – not to mention it'll stain these pretty tiles," Gambit splashed his foot a little in the orange liquid.

            "You're meant to be injured and recovering in the hospital wing…" Rogue looked at him.  "What are you doin' here?!"

            "Just what you said, Chere, recovering…"

            "And doing a fine job of it, too, I might add.  Only hours ago you were at death's door."

            "I feel it, despite being fully mobile I'm far from recovered," Gambit found a roll of kitchen paper, and tore off a huge bundle of it, "I'll clean it up…"

            Rogue watched as he winced, slowly moving downwards, every movement obviously caused him some pain.  "Leave it, I'll do it," she sighed, she grabbed the kitchen paper from his hand, "Just stand over there – where I can see you," she remarked.

            He held up his hands, "why you tryin' to pick a fight with me, chere?" he asked in an innocent tone.

"Why?!" Rogue was stunned he should act as if he didn't know why she was so angry with him.  "Stop acting all so innocent, Gambit, you know why I'm mad at you!"

"I ain't done nothing wrong," he stated, keeping his eyes on hers, he was good at lying, with an expression like his she would have almost believed he was innocent – if it had not been her he'd tried to abduct that was.

            "No?  What about last time?" Rogue demanded coldly, she dropped to her knees and began to wipe up the spilt orange juice, luckily there wasn't too much of it there.  She couldn't help but keep glancing up at him, the overhead lights flattered his chiselled features, and even his dark brown hair looked good mussed from sleep, she reckoned he was the kind of guy who could roll out of bed after a night of heavy partying, and still look good.

            "You cling to the past too much, chere," he gave a soft laugh, but the laugh sounded almost empty.

            "Don't call me 'chere', you Cajun bad-ass-wannabe," she muttered.

            "Call me Remy," he suggested, he kept his eyes on hers, she met his eyes for a moment, his eyes were black as night, except for the iris, which seemed to almost glow red, especially when he lowered his head a little and his hair shaded his eyes.   

            "I don't want to be on first name basis with you, slimeball," she muttered, she finished wiping the orange juice up and tossed the soaked paper into the garbage bin under the sink.  "What do you think you're playing at creepin' around at all hours?" she demanded.

            "I could ask the same thing about you, chere," Remy remarked.

            "You have no right to ask me anything," she folded her arms.

            "You're sexy when you're angry," Remy laughed, he pressed his tongue into his left cheek and tried not to laugh at the stubborn expression on her pale face.

            "I oughta--!" Rogue felt her anger flaring.

            "Why do I make you so angry, chere?" Remy walked over to her, and stood before her.

Rogue moved away from him, "Listen, creep, just because the others are okay with you being here doesn't mean I am – in fact, I resent the fact they even took you in, they should have left you there to die."

"You would have left me?" He looked at her with those intense eyes of his.  She felt as if he could see right through her, she hugged herself insecurely and moved back from him a little more.  She wanted to walk away from him but did not want to turn away from him in fear that he'd stick one of the large knives in the block on the kitchen counter into her back.

"Yes I would have," she spat the words out, yet, she felt as if the words were untrue, and as if they left a foul taste in her mouth as she spoke them.

Remy chuckled softly to himself, and he reached over to her and brushed his fingers against the sleeve of her pyjama top.  She flinched away, "you couldn't leave anyone to die, you have too much compassion."

"What the hell would you know, you don't KNOW me," Rogue frowned at him.

"I do, Rogue, more than you think," he stated.  "Me and you, we're the same you and me," he added.

"Jesus, you're talking in that stupid way that Magneto talks," Rogue rolled her eyes.  "And besides, you would have left me to die if it had been me lying there…" she stated.

"Not now," he uttered, "maybe in the past but…not now.  Isn't there such a thing as forgive and forget?" he asked in a light tone.

            "Forgive and FORGET?!" She demanded in a loud tone, then hushed realising she might wake up the whole mansion, "You're the enemy!  You work for Magneto!" she said in dismay.

            "Now, see, that's where you're wrong," Remy headed towards the door, and stopped as he reached the threshold, he looked over his shoulder at her, "I WAS the enemy," he said, "and I DID work for Magneto…" he looked at her, "we be on the same side, now, chere," he commented, and with that, disappeared into the blackness of the hallway.

            Rogue stood in the kitchen breathing heavy in anger, fuming.  She swore to herself silently that there would be no way she would ever be on the same side as Remy.  Never.

            "I don't trust him," she said to herself quietly, she waited a few moments, and then headed back into the grand hall, pushed the button for the secret elevator and headed down into the basement area of the mansion, and along to the war room.  

            The war room was quiet, except of course for the hum of the computers.  She found a seat in front of the main mansion security control panel, and looked at the monitor, it asked for a password to log in.

            She paused, remembering about what Kurt said about the Mansion security systems, she located the security and alarm systems reports from at previous morning, and went through each page, locating the right code to access the security system.  Once she had done so, she began to search through various cameras.  There was a security camera in the hospital wing.

            She located the camera and zoomed a little with it, Remy was lying on the bed on his side, still awake, she watched him intently, deciding she would make herself sit up all night watching him just to make sure he did not go wandering off again.


	4. Chapter 4: Friction

Chapter 4: Friction

            "Rogue, wake up…"

            Rogue felt someone pressing a hand on her shoulder, she flinched away from it and tried to go back to sleep.

            "Rogue, c'mon, wake up, darlin'."

            Logan's voice eventually awoke Rogue fully, she opened her eyes finding herself with her arms folded on a desk and her cheek propped up against them, she leaned up and yawned, she was still in the war room.

            "I…I musta fallen asleep…I'm sorry," she stretched, feeling the aches of having been sleeping in an awkward and uncomfortable position for so long.

            "What were you doing in here?" Logan asked, he turned on a nearby printer and used his foot to push her chair away from the desk so he had access to the keyboard.

            Rogue stopped the chair from toppling over, "Gambit was up last night, I caught him sneakin' around.  So I decided I'd keep an eye on him…"

            "Gotta admit, he's recovered a hell of a fast from being stabbed, still, wound isn't that deep, he bled a lot, had a bit of a knock on the head too apparently…he's awake now, me and Hank spoke to him."

            "What happened to him?" Rogue stood up, and stretched a little more.

            "Didn't say," Logan said.

            "Didn't, or wouldn't?" Rogue asked carefully.

            "Both," Logan began to print out the security reports from the night before, "and you don't need to worry about keeping an eye on him, me and Beast are doing a good job of that."

            "Yeah, well last night you weren't," Rogue muttered, "did he tell you he claims to have switched sides?"  
            "He mentioned wanting to join us," Logan grumbled while he busily began gathering the reports printing out, he overlooked them.

            "What did you tell him?" Rogue asked, looking at him expectant of an answer.

            "I told him we need to wait 'til Chuck gets back," Logan threw a steely look to Rogue, "why are you so interested, you sweet on the Cajun?" he asked.

            "No, I'm just…I don't trust him.  That guy is bad news, Logan," Rogue chewed her lip.

            "You don't have to tell me that," Logan stated, "But in the meantime he's gonna be staying here, you might as well try to get over the grudge you have against him."

            "I don't think I'll ever get over it, I think I have a reason to hold a grudge, don't you?" Rogue asked.

            "Of course I do," Logan put the reports down on the desk and turned to look at her, "fact is, though, it'll be really unpleasant if you can't get over the grudge, because you'll probably see a lot of each other over the next few days."

            "I doubt it," Rogue looked at Logan as if the suggestion were absurd.  "I'll be keeping as far away from that asshole as possible," she stated and with that, left to go to her room, as she walked, she pondered the situation some more, but the only solution she could come up with for the whole thing was that she needed to talk with the Professor when he got back and try to convince him not to let Gambit join the X-Men.  She somehow convinced herself that if Gambit joined the X-Men, she would walk out and leave the X-Men. 

            When she arrived in her room, Kitty was up, and dressed in her uniform, sprawled over her all-ready-made bed, flicking through Seventeen magazine.  

            "Where were you?" Kitty asked, she leaned up, "I woke up this morning and you weren't there, I went all over looking for you," She stated.

            "Did you check the war room?" Rogue asked with a yawn, she flung herself on her bed – which was definitely still unmade.

            "No…" Kitty made a face, "why would you be in there?"

            "Well, that's where I was, I was watching Gambit."

            "Watching him?" Kitty frowned a little and her expression turned to one of disgust, "that sounds, like, so freakishly stalkerish."

            "He was sneaking around last night, so when he went back to the hospital wing, I made sure to watch him just to make sure he didn't do it again – but I fell asleep…" 

            "So you caught him?" Kitty sat up fully.

            "Yeah, had this whole confrontation with him," Rogue rested her head down on the mattress, and closed her eyes.  "He says he's on our side now…and I'm still mad at you for agreeing with the others that we should help him.  Prick could have been dead by now, but no, you guys had to save his worthless Cajun ass."

            "We have a training exercise this morning, by the way, in twenty minutes," Kitty changed the subject, she got up and pulled her long hair into a ponytail, as she walked Rogue could see that Kitty's uniform, which had once been snug and flattering, was now loose at the waist, hips and backside.  

            "Are you STILL dieting?" Rogue demanded.

            "My ass still has some flab in it," Kitty remarked, she slapped her own backside.

            "Is this because of what those guys at school said?"

            "Kinda," Kitty shrugged.

            "Kitty, you don't even NEED to worry about what those guys at school think of you, we don't even GO to Bayville High anymore, why should you care?"

            "Rogue, its easier to use my powers if I'm lighter, okay?  Already I've seen an improvement when I'm airwalking." 

            "Kitty, you're gonna get sick," Rogue said, matter-of-factly.

            "I'm fine, I'm healthy," Kitty smiled.

            "If you say so…" Rogue got up and grabbed her robe from the bottom of the bed, "I'm gonna go take a shower…" she said.

            "Be quick, Storm is in charge of training today, and you know she'll flip if you're late," Kitty warned.

            "I'll be fast," Rogue rolled her eyes.

"Everyone is to meet at the front of the Mansion at precisely 6am," Kitty remarked.

Rogue sighed, "I can't BELIEVE we get up this early…it's just sad," she muttered, and headed towards the Bathroom on the floor of the girls dorm area.  She tried the handle, it was locked.

            "Occupied!" Jean's voice came from inside.

            Rogue grumbled, "yeah, you have Scott, you have the bathroom…" she kept her voice low, and headed  down the hall and down the staircase to the first floor where there was another bathroom, she got to the first floor, turned the corner and opened the door to the bathroom, surprised to see Remy standing with his back to her, relieving himself in the toilet.

            He glanced over his shoulder in a manner that spoke little of his surprise.

            "What the hell…" Rogue gaped, "haven't you ever heard of locks?!" she demanded, she slammed the door shut, already beginning to feel more frustration than she could handle with the guy, she waited, hearing the toilet flush and the water in the sink running, and she stood impatient.   She banged her fist on the door, "will you hurry up, already?!  I need to take a shower!  I have a training session in like ten minutes!" she screeched.

            The door opened slowly, and he peered out around the corner with a smirk, "you oughta be up a little earlier, Chere, you could have been showered and ready ages ago."

            "What business is it of yours," she shoved the door open roughly and pushed him aside using her robe so she didn't have touch him with her bare hands.

            "Ow, take it easy, Chere, I'm an injured man," he feigned a hurt expression and stepped out of the bathroom, "enjoy your ablutions," he waved a hand behind him as he walked away.

            Rogue stomped her foot, and swore under her breath, "I'm gonna KILL You, Cajun, you just watch yourself," she yelled after him, and slammed the bathroom door behind herself.

             The training session for the six teenagers, Scott, Jean, Rogue, Kitty, Evan and Kurt, was to complete a rather difficult obstacle course about forty miles west of Bayville.  So they all piled into the van, and Ororo started up the van and they were off for the day.

Rogue dropped off to sleep in the van, her head against the window, exhaustion had settled itself over her like a huge weight.

"So, what's this obstacle course going to be like, Ororo?" Jean asked from the back of the van, where she sat with Scott beside her.

"You'll see when you get there…" Ororo admitted, "One thing though, be prepared to get dirty," She smiled a little.

"Oh nooooo," Kitty made a face, "Not like…mud…it takes forever to get it out of my hair."

"I'm afraid there will be some mud, yes, Kitty," Ororo admitted.

"Man, it's warm out today," Evan sighed, he rolled a window down and tried to fan some air in with a road atlas book.

"Are we nearly there, yet?" Scott asked, noticing they'd been in the van for quite a while.

"In about ten minutes, will someone please wake Rogue?" Ororo asked, "I don't want her all sleepy when she gets there, it won't do her much good against the obstacle course."

Kurt shook Rogue, as he was sitting beside her, "Rogue…"

"Not now, I wanna sleep," she mumbled tiredly.

"Rogue, we're almost there," Kitty called from the seat behind, she was stuck beside Jean and Scott. 

Rogue yawned and dabbed at the corner of her eyes with her finger to remove any sleep crust or smudged eyeliner, "sorry…god I'm so tired."

"First you were late meeting us at the front, and now you fall asleep, did you not sleep last night?" Kurt asked of Rogue, he turned slightly towards her.

"Kinda, but kinda not," Rogue yawned again, "That Cajun creep woke up and started prowling around – and I caught him, so I made it my duty to watch over him and make sure he didn't do any more slinking around when we were asleep…" 

"And she fell asleep in the process," Kitty giggled.

"I was tired," Rogue retorted.  "God, that Cajun is SO on my last nerve already."

"Oooh, some friction going on," Evan laughed.  "This should make for some good entertainment."

"While Gambit is staying with us, we will treat him as one of us," Ororo remarked, "give him a chance," she added, "need I remind you Gambit is not the only one who was once on the enemies side…" she looked over her shoulder quickly and glanced at Rogue.  Rogue shrugged down into her seat, and was quiet for the rest of the journey.

When they arrived they were impressed by what they would have to deal with.   The obstacle course was huge, including having to run over a wooden slat bridge with no sides whilst being shot at by large cannons, having to run up a quick escalator that headed in a downwards direction, having to swing across massive distances with a rope – without falling into a pool of mud down below.

            "Wow…" Kitty said in awe.

            "This, I thought, would be a challenging – but fun – training session for you all," Ororo stated.  "Some of the obstacles will need speed, others, problem solving, some strength, some, team work…"

            "Let me guess…" Scott trailed off, "Not allowed to use powers?"

            "Not once," Ororo smiled a little, "But I know you can do it," She put her hand on Scott's shoulder, "You ALL can…"

            "Isn't it a little bit unfair on the ones of us who are less than agile?" Jean asked.

            "Not unfair, just some may find it easier," Ororo stated, "don't worry, you're all athletic, most of this should pose as no problem for you, but those of you who find it hard, your team mates will be able to back you up and help you along the way," Ororo stated.  "And admitting you need help from one of your team mates does not make you weak, always remember that," she added, looking at them all.

            Rogue leaned her back against the van, and listened closely as Ororo began to explain what she wanted them to do.

            "Now I want you to all work in teams, preferably with someone close to your own bodyweight and height – for specific reasons which you will discover later during the course—" Ororo stopped suddenly, when Kitty, who was standing halfway in front of Rogue, suddenly collapsed without warning.

            Rogue gasped and caught Kitty by the arm before she could land on the hard ground, "Kitty?" She asked.

            "Let her down gently…" Ororo stated.

            Rogue lay Kitty down slowly and carefully on the ground, Kitty seemed to have fainted.  "She looks a little pale…" Rogue admitted.

            "Probably exhaustion – or the heat, it is quite warm today," Ororo admitted.  "Someone get some water?" she asked of the others, Ororo raised her hands up to the air, and as she moved her hands slowly and gracefully towards the sky, clouds formed out of nowhere, and began to block the sun that had been beaming down upon the X-Men.

            Scott climbed into the van, and then returned back out with a water bottle, "Here…it's probably not cold anymore though…"

            "It will do," Ororo ensured, she knelt down, "Rogue, raise her head a little, please…"

            Rogue raised Kitty's head, Kitty was starting to come to, Ororo opened the cap of the water bottle and pressed the open nozzle to Kitty's lips.

            "Drink…" Ororo instructed.

            Kitty took a sip, and leaned up, "what…what happened?" She looked up, seeing the clouds overhead, and felt the rough cement of the parking area underneath her.

            "You fainted," Scott stated.

            Rogue slowly helped Kitty up, "you okay?"

            "I feel kinda weird," Kitty rubbed her head, "Kinda light headed."

            Ororo sighed, "maybe we should not continue the obstacle course…this is a bad sign…we should get you back to the Mansion so you can rest…"

            "No…we're here now…I can still do it," Kitty tried to assure.

            "Ororo, I can drive her back, and then come back?" Jean suggested.  "That way everyone else can still do the course/"

            "Good idea…" Ororo nodded.

            Rogue, whilst worrying that Kitty might not be well, began to perk up at the thought she could team up with Scott whilst Jean was absent, things certainly seemed to be looking up already.   However, back to the fact Kitty had fainted did worry Rogue.  Rogue wanted to scream out to Ororo that Kitty wasn't eating much and had been dieting for months and was like a stick and that was probably why she had fainted, not because of any heat. 

            When Jean and Kitty got into the van and were long gone, Rogue turned to Kurt.  "You know why she fainted, right?"

            "Not eating enough, weakness…" Kurt shrugged.

            "Thank GOD I'm not the only one who knows about that," Rogue made sure she and Kurt were out of earshot of Scott and Evan.  "I've tried to talk sense into her but she just…she doesn't wanna listen," Rogue shrugged.

            "Yeah, wonder where she gets THAT from…" Kurt smirked a little, looking at Rogue.

            "Are you implying I'm a bad influence on Kitty?"

            "No, I'm not implying you're a BAD influence," Kurt smirked, "I'm implying you're a TERRIBLE influence on her," He laughed.

            Rogue laughed, and smirked, "If I was she'd have a better sense of style."

            Kurt laughed, "Totally"


	5. Chapter 5: What Doesn't Die

Chapter 5: What Doesn't Die

            "Hank, I DON'T need to be lying in the hospital wing, it was only a little faint…" Kitty sighed as Hank helped her into one of the unoccupied beds in the hospital wing – happening to be a few feet away from Remy's bed.

            Hank smiled, "I'd rather be safe, than sorry.  You're obviously suffering from weakness – don't think I have not noticed all the weight you have lost," he stated, "in the past I let it slide, that's all going to be changing from now on," he stated.

            "Hank, I barely lost ANY weight," Kitty rolled her eyes.

            "Barely losing any weight doesn't make skin tight stretch fabric sag on you," Hank replied.

            "Hank, being thinner makes my powers more efficient," Kitty tried to explain.

            "Your powers are working better because you're lighter, but your powers won't work if you're too weak to use them, Kitty," Hank frowned a little.

            Kitty sighed and propped the pillows up, she could think of several more interesting things she could do other than lie in the hospital wing with nothing to do period.  "Can you at least bring in a radio or something, it's dull in here…" Kitty sighed, "please?"

            "Perhaps later, in the meantime, rest," Hank pulled the blankets over her, he smiled in a caring manner, and then left the hospital wing, intent on checking on the others in the mansion.

            Kitty sighed to herself and rested her back against the pillows, she reminded herself that only a month ago, Rogue had been the one lying in the very bed she had been lying in – with Miss Marvel in the bed nearby, where Remy was lying now.

            "You know, the blue one has a point," Remy glanced over at her, he was half propped against the pillows, topless, lying over the covers casually as if he was just chilling out rather than recovering.

            "Who asked you?" Kitty asked, she made a face.

            "Would you rather sit in silence?" Remy asked pointedly, knowing she didn't want to sit there with nothing to do – or say.  

            Kitty shook her head but looked away.

            "Y'know…last time I saw you, you looked a lot better, healthier.  Now look at you, skin and bones.  You look a fright," he leaned on his side a little, turning fully towards her, looking at her, "Whatyou wanna go and lose all that weight for anyway…or more importantly…who?"

            "That's none of your business," Kitty chewed the inside of her cheek, she frowned a little, "anyway, why is it a concern of yours?" she asked.

            "Well, I'm here right now, you're here, what better way to spend a Sunday morning than talk sense into a girl who wants to not-eat her way into anorexia," he smirked, "but seriously though, why you want to lose weight?" he asked, "I mean you were thin anyway, you weren't overweight or anything…"

            "Well…" Kitty sighed, she pulled her legs up to her body and hugged them, resting her chin on her knees, "some guys at school said I had a fat ass," she shrugged.

            "And you're going to listen to a couple of immature guys from school?" Remy asked, he raised an eyebrow, "let me guess, Jocks, right?"

            "How'd you know?" Kitty raised an eyebrow.

            "Wild guess," Remy gave a sexy smirk, "they're unrealistic, they live in a dream world, you know, guys like that."

            "Whatever," Kitty looked across the room absently.

            "If you're losing weight because of what someone said and NOT for yourself, then you're losin' it for all the wrong reasons," He stated.  "A lot of guys in this day and age like a little meat on their woman, y'know?"

            "I get it, you're a big ass man," Kitty rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile.

            "I plead the fifth," Remy laughed softly and lay back on his back

            Kitty paused for a moment, then turned back to him, "so, uhm…why are you here?"

            "I'm here recovering, I thought that one was pretty obvious," Remy pointed out.

            "No, I mean, why are you HERE," Kitty asked, "Why are you not with Magneto and the rest of his crones?  Did they kick you out?"

            Remy looked at her, "right now, I can't answer that," he replied.

            "Did you walk out or something?" Kitty asked, she folded her legs under the blankets and rested her elbows on them, keeping her head turned towards him.  

            "I plead the fifth," he replied again, and closed his eyes, "rest time, now, eh?"

            Kitty shook her head in disbelief, "Obviously something went down, you got stabbed…" she pointed out.

            "Perhaps its best to leave some questions unanswered for the time being," Remy opened his black eyes and looked at her.

            "Are you here because you want to be one of us?" Kitty looked at him.

            Remy sat up slowly, and looked at her, "you ask too many questions."

            "I have a right to," Kitty stated, "your being here is…shady…at best," Kitty pointed out, "I think it's only fair you tell us why you decided to come to us instead of go to the Brotherhood, or somewhere else…"

            "I have already been through this," Remy sighed, "Wolverine and Beast drilled me this morning…and it best be dropped…I'm not budging…"

            Kitty looked at him, "how do you expect us to trust you if you won't give us a reason why you're here."

            "If you don't trust me, that's your problem, not mines," Remy responded.

            "Rogue doesn't trust you either," Kitty folded her arms.

            "The Cherie has a grudge against me.  She'll get over it," Remy sounded sure.

            "Sure she will."

            "Chere got spirit, I'll give her that," Remy seemed pleased, he closed his eyes, "now we have some quiet time, I need to rest, injured man here, trying to recover."

            "Whatever," Kitty remarked.

            On lunch break at the all day training session, Rogue found Scott sitting by himself eating potato chips and looking up at the sky, Jean had gone off to find the nearby bathrooms in the building near the course.  Rogue sat down beside Scott, "hi," she said, trying to sound cheerful.

            "Hi," Scott didn't glance over to her as he greeted her.

            "How's it going?" Rogue asked, trying to sound as casual as she could, she looked at him, studying his perfect profile.

            "It's going fine.  This training session is a lot of fun," He admitted.

            "That was so funny when Jean fell in the mud," Rogue stated, referring to an earlier incident when Jean was trying to swing over a large pool of mud by a rope, and slipped and fell straight in.  Rogue hadn't been able to hide her delight in seeing the girl up to her waist in thick mud.

            "It was," Scott chuckled.

            "It was up to her waist," Rogue giggled, "she looked SO mad…" Rogue took a sip from the water bottle she had been carrying with her.

            "She's used to getting muddy – she played a lot of Soccer at Bayville high, remember."

            "Yeah.  She won't be doing that, anymore," Rogue pointed out, she was kind of smug about this.  

            "She does miss it," Scott stated.

            "How's it goin' with you and Jean, anyway?" Rogue asked, trying to sound light about it, what she really wanted to know was if there was any chance of Jean getting out of the way so she had a chance with Scott.  

            "It's going great.  We're getting along really well…its…perfect…" 

            Rogue felt her heart sink, "really?" she feigned a cheerful tone.

            "Yeah…" Scott smiled to himself, he saw Jean appear out of the door of the building and begin to head back to where the group were sitting on a grassy area near the course.

            "Do you love her?" Rogue asked quietly.

            "I…you know, you can't really ask me that," Scott admitted, "if I did...I'd want her to be the first one to hear me say I did," he added.

            "Understandable," Rogue nodded, she felt her heart sinking deeper and deeper.

            "But…there's a feeling between us, that's…so strong…" Scott confided, "something I don't think will die."

            Something came to Rogue's mind and shot out of her mouth before she'd even thought about opening her mouth, "You can't kill what doesn't die…"

            "Huh?" Scott turned and looked at her.

            "Uhm…oh, sorry, just when you said that, it reminded me of this song…Anthrax, 'what doesn't die', its sort of thrashy," she lied, her excuse was the first thing that had come to her head.  "You should listen to it," she tried to change the subject.

            "You and me have very different tastes in music, Rogue," Scott reminded.

            "Yeah, I like Ozzy Osbourne, and you like…uhm…Hanson?" Rogue remembered having seen a Hanson CD in his car once.

            "That was a LONG time ago," he looked at her, "That CD had been in my collection since 1997," he added.

            Rogue giggled, "then why is it in the car you've had less than a year?"

            "Uhm…picked it up by accident," he admitted, he stood up, "Excuse me," he waved to her, and then headed over to meet Jean as she arrived back.

            "You're not excused," Rogue whispered, out of his earshot, she sighed to herself.  She turned to see Kurt walking over, Kurt planked himself on the ground beside her.

            "Something bothering you?" Kurt asked.

            "No, why?" Rogue wondered.

            "You look upset," Kurt responded, he offered her some candy from a bag he'd brought with him.

            Rogue refused his candy.  "I'm just, I don't know, frustrated with everything going on lately, Kurt…" she sighed.

            "Are you worried Gambit will join the X-Men?" Kurt asked, he shoved a hand full of candy into his mouth.

            "I'm not worried about it," Rogue stated, "But if he does, I'm gonna be severely peeved," she sighed.  "I might even leave the X-Men.  I can't deal with being near him.  It's 'cause of him and that bitch, Miss Marvel, that I have another person in my head," She muttered, "I can't get along with him – only a couple of months ago he was intent on taking me to Magneto – god knows why!" 

            "But he isn't trying to do that now, Rogue," Kurt pointed out.

            "How do I know he's not going to try to do it again, Kurt?!  How do I know the minute I turn my back on him that a KNIFE won't be sticking out of it?

            "Rogue, maybe he has a good reason to want to come over to us, maybe he's seen the error of his ways," Kurt admitted.

            "I can't believe you're siding with him now," Rogue stood up, "jesus, what is it with everyone?  Y'all are standing up for him!!"

            "I'm not standing up for him," Kurt stood also, "but I'm saying that there's two sides to every story…"

            "Kurt, you said you were my brother and you'd always back me up, why can't you just…back me up on this?" Rogue demanded angrily, "Jesus, you're ALL betraying me!  You helped him when he needed help, now y'all are willing to accept him into the X-Men!" she shouted at him.

            "We're NOT betraying you, Rogue," Kurt kept his voice down.  "I just think—"

            "Don't even try, leave me alone, I'm not talking to you," Rogue turned her back on him and walked away, leaving him standing there.

            "Here we go again," Kurt rolled his eyes.

            Professor Xavier had been away for a few days at a few teaching seminars, and had arrived back at the Mansion not long after 1pm that very day, greeted immediately by Hank and Logan.  "It is so good to be back," Professor Xavier admitted.  "How have things been in my absence?" he asked.

            "Mayhem," Logan stated, "Kitty is in the hospital wing – she fainted earlier this morning."

            "Fainted?" Professor Xavier asked, "How so?" he wheeled himself along the grand hall, Hank and Logan following.

            "We think its from weakness – she has not been eating right, forcing herself to diet.  All that will be changing from now on, though.  We'll be keeping an eye on her," Hank explained. 

            "I sense the presence of Gambit," Xavier stated calmly.

            "He arrived last night just after seven – seemed to come out of nowhere, was hurt," Logan stated, "he'd been stabbed.  But he won't tell us who attacked him," he added, "Rogue made a big fuss of course, girl still holds a grudge against him – and I don't blame her."

            "Gambit claims to want to join the X-Men," Hank said, "and to make matters worse he won't explain why he suddenly wants to switch sides."

            "Strange," Professor Xavier stated, "if there is any sinister intentions behind it, I'll find out…I'll go have a talk with him now…"

            "Professor, would you recruit him?" Hank asked.

            "If his reasons for being here are good enough, then possibly," Professor Xavier admitted.

            "Rogue won't be pleased if he's recruited.  You can tell there's going to be some hostility between them," Logan reminded, "how will we handle that?"

            "Logan, need I remind you that when Rogue first joined, she had hostility with everyone in the Mansion…" Professor Xavier pointed out, "and she has begun to accept everyone.  It may take time, but she will over come her feelings of anger towards Gambit as well."

            "You're talking like he's already one of us, Professor," Hank was concerned.

            "While he's in the mansion, he is.  But whether he has a future with the X-Men, is yet to be established," Professor Xavier headed towards his office, "can you please send him to my office…"

            "Sure thing," Logan stated, he waited until Professor Xavier was gone, and he looked towards Hank.  "What do you think, Hank, can we trust this Cajun?" 

            "I am not sure," Hank folded his arms, "the only one who can answer that would have to be a mind reader," he added, "So…I'm confident Professor Xavier will find the answer to that himself."


	6. Chapter 6: New Recruit

Chapter 6: New Recruit

            The X-Men returned from their training session just after four pm.  Caked in mud, exhausted and well in need of a shower and some time out, they wandered into the grand hall of the Mansion, Logan was just coming down the stairway as they entered.

            "Well well well," he laughed, "talk about getting your hands – and everything else – dirty," He smirked, he looked at Jean, who was by far the muddiest.  "Have fun?"

            "It was a blast," Evan grinned, he had dried mud in his hair, and smeared over one eyebrow.

            "That's good," Logan nodded.  "Professor Xavier is back," he added, "He wants to see you all in his office at five."

            "Have we done something wrong?" Jean asked.  

            "You'll see, he wants to discuss several things, go get cleaned up and be there promptly," He added, and left.

            Rogue headed for the kitchen, "I need a soda…" she muttered, and left without saying anything else.  As she walked along the hall she thought of how angry she was with the others, especially Kurt.  It felt as if they were all turning on her to believe Remy had seen the error of his ways.  

            She found Kitty sitting at the kitchen table, donning pink Pyjamas, and eating a massive slice of chocolate cake.  Rogue gaped.  "Oh…my…god…" 

            Kitty glanced up, "what?" she asked, she took a bite of the cake.

            "You're eating…you're actually eating…wait, is that lettuce disguised as a chocolate cake?" Rogue lifted the plate up and inspected it, she took a sniff, "nope, it's definitely chocolate cake…"

            Kitty smirked a bit, "I've changed my mind about the diet thing," she admitted.  

            "Why?"

            "Well…I was like, talking to Gambit and he said a lot of guys these days like a little meat on their women and so—"

            Rogue stopped Kitty from continuing with what she was saying.  "Gambit convinced you to eat…"

            "Yeah?" Kitty shrugged, "so?"

            "I spoke to you earlier today about it and you just totally didn't listen, you wouldn't listen to me and I'm supposed to be your friend – but you listened to some Cajun scumball you've known for five minutes?"

            "He said what I needed to hear," Kitty shrugged.

            Rogue sighed, and left without even getting her soda.  She felt now that Kitty was betraying her also, what else could go wrong?  Rogue felt so hopeless she felt like crying.  Just as everything bad begun to get good at the Mansion, Remy had shown up and started to ruin everything, she wished she'd never met him.  

            Again, she got upstairs and found the only bathroom in the girls dorm area occupied, again.  She couldn't believe the lack of bathrooms in the mansion – especially when everyone needed to take a shower.  She sighed, and grabbed her robe from her room and headed downstairs to go to the downstairs bathroom, as she was about to get there, she saw Remy coming around the corner from the hospital wing, he stopped and looked at her.

            "I'm afraid you're one minute too early to catch me taking a leak," he leaned casually against the wall near the bathroom door, looking at her.

            "You're vile," she muttered.

            "Mud bath with your clothes on?" He grinned, gesturing to her clothes, covered with mud.

"Good for the skin you know," she wiped some mud – still wet – off of her leg and reached over with her gloved hand and smeared it onto his face roughly.

Remy pursed his lips together, "You've got quite an attitude…" he raised an eyebrow and wiped his face with his hand, the mud only seemed to smear worse.

"You too," Rogue opened the bathroom door.

He looked at her, "but you love me anyway…" he grinned cheekily, even with mud all over his face he could get away with looking sexy and smug.

She belted him, "leave me alone, go away."

"I need to take a leak!" he protested, motioning to the bathroom.

"Well, here's a suggestion – go outside and let it loose on a tree like every other dog," Rogue hissed.

"Oh come on, surely you can come up with a better insult than that," Remy dared.

"Okay, here's one…why don't you do us all a favour, and charge your head up with that power of yours, and let it blow up," she stepped into the bathroom and slammed the door behind herself.

"If I did that you wouldn't have anyone to vent all that hostility out at," he called from behind the door.

"Like I care," she turned the shower on, "Now go away."

            After a quick fifteen minute shower, she pulled on her robe, slicked her wet hair away from her face, and wiped the mirror to look at herself, with no make up she cringed.  "Scary," she uttered to herself.  She unlocked the door and entered back in the hall, surprised to see Remy still standing there.

Remy looked at her and raised an eyebrow, face full of amusement.  "Wow…you have a face hidden under all that hair and eyeliner," He remarked.

            "Will you just stay the hell out of my way?" Rogue demanded, she began to head along the corridor.

            "Chere…"

            "What?" Rogue demanded.

            "You have toilet paper sticking to your foot," Remy laughed.

            Rogue looked down, he wasn't lying, she had a long strip of toilet paper stuck to her slightly damp bare foot.  She felt her cheeks flush scarlet, humiliated in front of him.  She kicked it off and ran upstairs out of his site.

            By the time she had dressed, dried and styled her hair and applied her makeup again, it was almost five pm, she headed down the stairs, seeing Kitty in the hallway downstairs wandering around, still donning her pink pyjamas.

            "Aren't you meant to be resting or something?" Rogue asked.

            "Meant to be," Kitty gave a shrug, she was munching on an apple, "I can't lie there in the hospital wing, there's nothing to do," She complained, "Besides," Kitty stated, and then took a bite of her apple, chewed a little, and said "Hank came in and told me the professor wanted to see us all."

            "Don't talk with your mouth full," Rogue turned away in disgust.

            "Sorry," Kitty laughed a little, "c'mon, lets go find out what he wants to see us all for."

            Rogue followed Kitty to the back of the mansion where Professor Xavier's office was located, Jean, Scott and Kurt were already in there.  Professor Xavier was sitting behind his desk, Storm was sitting at the bay window, and Logan was standing with his back against the wall. 

            "Hi, Professor," Rogue greeted.

            Professor Xavier smiled a little and acknowledged her. "We're just waiting on the others," he stated.

            Evan rushed in, "am I late?" he asked, "its impossible finding a bathroom in this place that isn't occupied you know," he stated, he was still slightly damp from a shower, but he was dressed.

            "You're not late…ah, here they are now…" Professor Xavier gestured to the door, Hank and Remy stepped in, Remy now wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt.  

            Rogue threw Remy a look of disgust, and then looked away from him.

            "Alright, you're probably all wondering why I asked you to come here, a few things need to be discussed," Professor Xavier began.  "As you know, Summer Vacation has begun – you all had an early start on this, of course, with being expelled from school, but not to worry, this was unavoidable, and would have happened sooner or later," he looked at them all.

            Rogue glanced at Remy out of the corner of her eyes, he was looking right at her, she frowned, she wished he'd stop.

            "Anyway, I've thought long and hard about what we're going to do and rather than try to enrol you in another school, I decided that it may be best to teach you here, where you'll be safe.  Hank, Logan and Myself will be home schooling you as much as we can with the knowledge we have, for any other classes we cannot cope with, we will bring in another teacher…" Professor Xavier explained, "this, I think you already assumed would happen, but just to clear up any confusion, I thought it would be best to confront you all with this," he added, "Ororo will be teaching you English, and Geology, Hank, will teach you Mathematics, Chemistry, and Computer studies, I myself will teach you History, Biology and Physics, and Logan will be training you up on many kinds of martial arts, self defence, and other fighting styles," 

            Logan coughed, "And mechanics," he added.

            "Mechanics?" Kitty gaped, "we didn't even take mechanics at Bayville…"

            "You will now," Logan stated, "you guys need to know how to fix things, you won't just be learning how to fix a car that won't work, we're going to teach you kids how to get the complex computer systems working if they should break down, in case – god forbid – anything should happen and we're not here."

            Jean spoke up, "What about languages?" she asked, "me and Scott both took German…" 

            "If needs be we will bring in language teachers…" Professor Xavier stated, "there is time to arrange this.  In the meantime, it is summer vacation and you are free to spend the next few months as you wish…" 

            "Yes!" Evan said excitedly.

            "Except," Logan walked nearer to the desk, "Over the entire summer you'll still be doing training sessions every morning at 10am except from Saturdays and Sundays, unless we spring an emergency one on you all," he added, "and for six hours every week you'll learn Judo."

            "Fair enough," Scott nodded.

            "And on to the second subject," Professor Xavier cut in, "I'd like you to welcome the newest addition to the X-Men – Gambit."

            Rogue spun around and looked at Gambit, gaping, she turned back to Professor Xavier, "You're letting him JOIN the X-Men, are you crazy?"

            "Rogue, please…" Professor Xavier raised his hand in defense.

            "No, please nothing!" Rogue shrieked, "this guy is the enemy, he tried to take me from here to Magneto, and for ALL You know he could be planning to do it again…"

            "Rogue, I have looked into his mind and seen that he has no such intentions…" Professor Xavier explained.

            "Tell us why he switched sides," Rogue demanded impatiently.

            "It is best that the reasons for this remain in the dark – for now," Professor Xavier answered.

            Rogue looked at Remy, "tell us!"

            "I'd rather not," Remy remarked.

            "I can't be one of the X-Men if he is one of y'all, I can't," Rogue turned and headed towards the door, "I'm out of here!" she hissed, and left, slamming the door behind her.

            "Kurt, go after her…" Kitty shoved Kurt.

            "Why me?  She's mad at me!" Kurt threw his hands up.

            "But you're her half-adopted, whatever brother, she'll listen to you," Kitty shoved him again, "go…"

            Kurt sighed, and he teleported himself into Rogue's room, where he knew she'd head to.  He got there before she did, Rogue entered the room and looked at him.

            "Don't even try to stop me," Rogue muttered, she grabbed a large bag from under the bed and she threw it on her bed and opened it, then headed for the dresser.

            "Rogue, think about it, where are you going to go?" Kurt asked.

            "I don't care," Rogue looked at him, "anywhere but here, anywhere away from that creep…"

            "Why does he bother you so much?" Kurt asked.

            "I don't KNOW why he bothers me so much, he just does!" Rogue sighed, she grabbed a handful of underwear from the top drawer of the dresser, and she shoved it into the bag hastily. 

            "I think you're being stupid," Kurt admitted.

            Rogue rolled her eyes, "Thanks a lot, 'brother'."

            "Okay, me and you are family," Kurt stood up, "and as family, we're obligated to be honest with each other, and honestly I think that you're being unreasonable.  So WHAT if he was the enemy, he's not now."

            "And as family we're meant to stick by each other and support each other, and right now you're not supporting me, Kurt," Rogue looked at him, "we've had this argument, and why are you still here, anyway, I'm not talking to you," she walked past him and headed back to the dresser to grab some clothes.  "And as family, you should respect my decision to leave," she muttered.

            "Family don't run out on each other," Kurt looked at her pointedly.

            Rogue noticed his reflection in the mirror, she knew he had a point – and she hated that he had won the argument.  He was right, family didn't run out on each other – she'd had experience of family running out on her before, and it struck a nerve in her when he'd stated his point.

            She stopped, closed the drawer she'd been digging around in, and turned towards him, "Kurt, how am I gonna live under the same roof as this guy?"

            "You'll manage somehow, just…ignore him…" Kurt suggested.

            "Kurt, how the hell am I gonna ignore him, he's gonna be living here, training here, and probably hanging you all – now my friends will be HIS friends," she frowned.

            "Is that what you're so scared of, that he's going to steal us from you or something?" Kurt sat on the bed slowly.

            "No," Rogue said under her breath, "but…just as things were getting good, and I was happy, and getting along with everyone, this happened, and now, I feel…I don't know, angry…and betrayed, I feel like you all are betraying me, bringing in the one person who I truly hate – one of my worst enemies…"

            "We didn't betray you," Kurt stated.  "I didn't betray you," he added.

            Rogue sat down on the bed beside her, she felt so hopeless.

            "Rogue, you've gone through a lot in the last couple of months, the fight, absorbing Miss Marvel's powers, the coma…then Miss Marvel trying to take over and then discovering that you'll have her in your head for eternity," Kurt began, "and when Gambit arrived…"

            Rogue rubbed her forehead, "And when Gambit came, it was the straw that broke the camel's back."

            Kurt hadn't heard the expression before, but he nodded in agreement, "I agree, that's the last thing you needed to happen is for one of your enemies to end up living under the same roof," he agreed.  "But all you have to do is live with him.  You don't have to like him, you don't even have to talk to him if you don't want to," he reminded.

            "And what about if we're fighting with someone, Kurt?" Rogue looked at him, "and Gambit ends up in trouble, and I'm his only hope – and I can't even bring myself to think about savin' him."

            "Rogue, you and me both know you'd save him regardless of liking him or not…" Kurt stood up.

            Rogue looked at Kurt, realising he was beginning to sound older and older every day, suddenly she felt as if Kurt was more like an older brother than a slightly younger brother.  

            Kurt looked at her, "Better unpack your things," he suggested.

            Rogue looked at Kurt, understanding why Kitty liked him so much.  Despite his somewhat goofiness, it was easy to look past the blue fur, pointed ears and fangs, and see a real person beneath it all, a wonderful person at that.  "Okay…" she stood up also, looking across at him.

            Rogue had never been easy with affection, but she reached across and hugged him, as best she could, without skin to skin contact, Kurt patted her back.  

            "I know I'm a bitch, Kurt, I don't mean to be…" she moved back and looked at him, "thanks for putting up with me…"

            "You're my sister, I don't have a choice," He joked, "it's almost dinner time," he pointed out, "you coming downstairs?"

            "In a while," Rogue nodded.

            "Okay, I'll leave you alone for a bit," Kurt recognised her want for solitude, "I'll be downstairs," he remarked, and with that, teleported out of sight, leaving only a slight puff of smoke where he'd once been.

            Rogue sighed and walked over to the window, and stood looking outside.  She silently swore to herself that somehow, she would find out why he'd come to the X-Men, why he'd switched sides, and why he'd been stabbed.  The questions she knew she would go crazy if they remained unanswered, but she promised herself she'd get the answers sooner or later – even if she had to hurt him.

- The End. 


End file.
